Local government reorganisation could result in the loss of nine-in-10 councillors and threaten local democracy, according to the think tank Localis.
In an essay titled Reorganisation, local government and the future of English Devolution, Localis argues that the establishment of unitary authorities in two-tier areas covering half-a-million residents could see councillor numbers drop from roughly 12,000 to 1,200.
The authors of the essay, emeritus professors Colin Copus and Steve Leach, warn that local government reorganisation will burden remaining councillors with increased workloads and insufficient resources to help manage the strain.
The essay also suggests that an increase in population sizes will likely have negative consequences for democratic criteria such as ‘public trust in councillors’, ‘electoral turnout’ and ‘participative engagement’ levels.
Responding to the Government’s English Devolution white paper, published in December 2024, Copus and Leach argue that the document creates only a ‘tenuous connection’ between local government reorganisation and devolution.
The essay suggests that ‘unconvincing evidence and generalities’ are provided in justification of local government reorganisation, such as the white paper’s proposal that larger local government sizes will ensure greater savings, which the authors argue cannot be consistently applied to counties across England.
Emphasising the importance of preserving local interests, Copus and Leach argue the Government’s white paper proposals will marginalise community identity, rather than reflect the needs of ‘real places’.
Commenting on the paper, Leach said: ‘Local government will get less and less local, and areas that have been used to their own elected council will be subsumed into meaningless conglomerates that will make no sense as units of local government and even less sense to local people.’
Copus added: ‘Councillors in England have one of the highest representative ratios across Europe and as the Government proceeds with an unnecessary, expensive and distracting reorganisation, we will see another drastic reduction in councillor numbers; that isn't a virtue of reorganisation, it's a hollowing-out of local democracy and a reduction in opportunities for citizens to get involved in local self-government.’
